Recipes by Ingredient

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Why a PINK chef's coat?

Simply put, I carry my Dad's legacy with me through my cookbook, cooking and everyday I am writing my food columns, he is always with me. I carry my Mom with me through a silent reminder of her struggle with breast cancer that took her life, as well as the lives of many other women who have dealt with, and are still dealing with, this horrible affliction. Besides, why not pink? It makes a man look good!

Bean Swagan

Nothing in my repertoire says Yankee, comfort and home quite like Bean Swagan. It was the very first dish Dad ever taught me(behind biscuits) to make when I was 14 and have enjoyed it ever since. All us Yankee Chefs have stood by one recipe through all the years. Only making Swagan with beans, ham, ketchup and water. That's it! So what do I do? Now that my mentors are gone, I am Yanking this thick soup, by adding some great sausage I get from beansmeats.com and a vegetable or two. If you prefer not to add ketchup, use tomato sauce instead. But I find the spices in ketchup fit perfectly with recipe, as did 2 generations before me. So if anyone rolls their eyes because this isn't a gourmet ingredient........so what.

Bean Swagan Directions

Remove casing from sausage. Add sausage to a large skillet, placed over medium high heat, and cook and stir until cooked through, about 3-5 minutes. Remove sausage from skillet, without the grease and place in a small crock pot, turned on high.

Add vegetable broth, carrots and onion and bring to a boil, covered. Once boiling, reduce heat to low and simmer 5 hours or until beans are soft and broken.

Simply stir in ketchup and season to taste, garnish with parsley if desired and serve immediately.

Stove top method:Follow instructions for crock pot but brown and cook the sausage in a pot you will be cooking the Swagan in.You will also need to stir it frequently to prevent scorching on bottom. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and cook for about 1 hour, uncovered, until beans are very soft. We covered the crockpot only because I don't like leaving anything uncovered while not at home. If at home, certainly do not put the cover on.

A great "mix-in" for Bean Swagan is: 1 teaspoon fennel seeds 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme 1/2 cup creme fraiche In a coffee grinder, or with mortar and pestle(but who has one of those now-a-days?) grind the fennel seeds and dried thyme to powder. Mix in with creme fraiche.